


Somewhere In The Forest

by okemmelie



Category: Spies Are Forever - Talkfine/Tin Can Brothers
Genre: M/M, Zombie AU, but there's zombies and some regular zombie movie happenings i suppose, like idk it's not the most violent action filled thing in the world
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-17
Updated: 2019-10-17
Packaged: 2020-12-21 09:31:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 7
Words: 4,198
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21072701
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/okemmelie/pseuds/okemmelie
Summary: When the world gets overrun by zombies, Owen is pretty happy to have Curt and Curt is pretty happy to have Owen.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Current521](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Current521/gifts).

> for a speedwriting challenge i did with my buddy, stry, so it's dedicated to them! but in all honesty, it's also dedicated to halloween in general. we love the spooky times in this house and that's why we're doing a zombie au !

Owen is running.

He’s been running for as long as he can remember. Through cities, through forests, down highways… he’s been running through it all. And there’s never been a reason to stop running, so he hasn’t. And he won’t. Not until he’s safe.

The world has changed and it’s all been happening so fast. He’s seen his friends and family die in front of his very eyes, and he hasn’t had the ability to stop it. He’s only had the ability to run.

Along the way, he’s picked up a baseball bat, a gun and some food. But now, he’s in a forest and he’s out of food and out of bullets. It’s not looking too good, but he’s going to keep running and he’s going to figure it out. He has to.

“Halt!” A voice rings through the forest and Owen finally stops. Walkers can’t speak. Or at least he’s never heard one do so and he’s willing to take the chance. He can always start running again if things go bad.

A girl steps out from behind a tree. She’s short, blonde and pointing a gun at him. “Who are you? What’s your business?”

Her voice is not the same as the one who told him to halt, so Owen decides that his best option is to answer her questions. “My name is Owen Carvour. I’m just passing through.”

“Just passing through?” It’s the original voice and it’s coming from right behind him. He feels something being pressed against back. Another gun, he assumes. “That’s, how you say, bullshit. Are you working for Von Nazi?”

Von Nazi? That had to be the dumbest name Owen’s ever heard. “No. I don’t even know who that is. I’m just me, on my own, trying to survive.”

The blonde woman puts down her gun and looks over his shoulder, signing something to the woman behind him. He hardly remembers any sign language, but he’s pretty sure he sees  _ trust  _ and  _ boss  _ in there.

“Please follow me, Mr. Carvour.” The blonde woman offers him a smile and gestures in the direction from which she came, then starts walking. With a gun to his back and a wish to survive, Owen has no choice but to obey.

They’ve taken his gun and his baseball bat, but they’ve let him keep his food and he’s thankful for that. He doesn’t blame them for confiscating them: They’re taking a big enough risk letting him into their safehouse. Letting him have a weapon would be a risk and this is not a time for risks.

He is let into a room by the redheaded woman who had walked behind him on his way here and whose name he still hasn’t caught. A brunette is waiting for him behind a table and she gets up from her chair once they step in.

“What was your name?” She asks as she holds out her hand.

He takes it. Her handshake is firm, he notes. “Owen Carvour, Miss.”

She rolls her eyes at him. “Just call me Cynthia.”


	2. Chapter 2

Curt stares at the ceiling.

He’s been staring at it for a while now, because stupid Cynthia has insisted that he’s too injured to be of any help and it’s stupid. He can help. He’s strong and capable.

There’s no doubt that Curt is the most capable of the survivors. Okay, one of the most capable. He’ll admit that Tatiana might be more capable than him, but they’re supposed to be a team. And now Cynthia’s sending Barb outside the walls with her? It’s stupid.

A door opens and Curt can’t be bothered to look who it is. It’s Barb. Of course it’s Barb. It’s always Barb. “Barb!”

“Curt!” He’s right. She comes and sit by the edge of the bed.

“Careful now,” he winces, and she quickly apologizes and moves off of the bed. It hurts, but maybe not as bad as he’s making it seem. If he’s being completely honest, he does like the attention: Being cared for isn’t half bad, even if it is by Barb.

She pulls up a chair next to his bed and sits down in that instead. “So how has your day been?”

“Boring as shit. Cynthia says I can’t leave because I can’t walk properly, but she’s the only one who’s visited me all day. Plus, the batteries on my GameBoy ran out five hours ago and Cynthia apparently doesn’t think that’s urgent enough to do something about. Tell me about what you and Tatiana did today?”

Barb is about to, when the door to his room once again opens. “Barb, Susan needed your help five minutes ago, get to it.” Cynthia doesn’t waste time and neither does Barb, who apologizes to both of them before running off. “Mega, make yourself useful and teach the new guy sign language.”

The new guy is tall. Well, at least he looks tall next to Cynthia. He is also hot. And it’s not like Curt is going to say no to a hot distraction from his neverending boredom. “Of course Cynthia!”

“Can we be done for today?”

Curt watches as Owen checks his watch. “I don’t know, Curt. I don’t think Cynthia would like that very much.”

“I don’t think Cynthia would like that very much,” Curt repeats in a mocking tone and gives Owen a little push. When Owen pushes back, Curt holds onto him to not fall off of his bed and Owen lets him. “C’mon. We’ve been at this for a week now. You’re a natural. It’s fine.”

Owen shakes his head and laughs a little. He has a cute laugh. “I thought you said I wasn’t very good at it?”

“I did.”

“But now you’ve suddenly changed your mind?”

Curt nods. “Exactly.”

He’s happy that Owen is easily convinced, because he’d much rather get to know Owen than teach him sign language. Sure, it’s more practical in the long run, but Curt’s already picked up on the fact that he’s a quick learner, so he thinks it’ll be fine.

They mostly talk about life within the walls of the safehouse. That’s the reality they share, so it makes sense. Maybe sometime in the foreseeable future, Curt will move on to the more personal questions and perhaps even ask about Owen’s past, but bitching about Cynthia and his missing GameBoy batteries is good for now.

Plus, looking at Owen is much nicer than staring at the ceiling.


	3. Chapter 3

Curt is dumb, but in the cute kind of way.

Owen can’t help but notice as he keeps spending time with the man. That is not to say that Owen didn’t find him intelligent: He’s incredibly smart and quick thinking, but he was also incredibly dumb.

He had a leg injury and kept insisting on walking around on it, despite both Cynthia, Barb and Owen himself telling him not to, and it only made the healing process take longer.

Then he’d complain to Owen that Cynthia wouldn’t let him outside the safehouse and Owen would pretend to be on Curt’s side, even though he could clearly see how this was Curt’s own mistake.

“Maybe you should just try resting for a few more days?” He suggests when Curt complains once again.

But they’ve had this very same conversation quite a few times by now and Owen isn’t even slightly surprised when Curt gives him the same answer as he always does. An eye roll, a repetition in a mocking tone and a change of topic.

Strangely enough, it’s rather endearing.

They talk about nothing meaningful for a while, until the door suddenly bursts open and Susan bursts in. Owen notices how Curt inches away from him as soon as the door makes the tiniest noise, but he decides not to pay it much mind.

Curt opens his mouth to speak but Susan shushes him, then signs something that Owen can’t quite make out. But Curt stays quiet, so Owen does too.

Susan keeps signing and Owen catches  _ walkers _ , his name and the word  _ office _ . It’s not enough for him to understand, but thankfully Curt leans in close and whispers something very quietly into his ear: “Cynthia wants to see you in her office.”

He follows Susan there.

Apparently, a small group of walkers have made their way to the safehouse. Cynthia doesn’t entirely trust Owen yet, but she tasks him with solving the problem along with Tatiana and Irene. If anyone dies and Owen returns, she’s killing him herself and something tells him she’s serious.

They’re just supposed to distract the walkers and drive them away from the facility, only killing them if it becomes absolutely necessary. Irene and Tatiana both get a gun, while Owen gets handed his old baseball bat. Susan shakes his hand before they leave for good luck and they’re off.

“I can’t believe she made you deal with it instead of me.”

Curt isn’t happy about the fact that he didn’t get to go outside the walls today, but he’s still not able to keep up with Owen’s speed as they’re walking around the courtyard together. Owen figured he wouldn’t be, but he finds Curt’s pouting and complaining rather adorable so he has zero regrets.

All things considered, he’s happy he ended up getting caught by Barb and Tatiana in the forest. There’s a lot of worse places he could have been and he could have been there without Curt, who waited up for him to return with both food and company.

“I can.” Owen smiles and Curt smiles back. “Close your eyes.”

Curt does so. Owen’s been excited to tell the other man about his trip ever since they started making their way back to the safehouse for one reason: They made it into town where Owen, despite his better judgement, was able to grab something for Curt.

He pulls something out from his inner pocket and lets Curt wait for a while, before telling him he can open his eyes again.

“Batteries?”

Owen nods. “I was able to pick some up while we were out and I remember you saying you needed some for your GameBoy, so…”

Sometimes Curt surprises him. Like right now, by pulling him into a hug. It’s a nice surprise, but it’s a surprise nonetheless. It doesn’t take Owen long to put his arms around Curt and return the hug. It’s warm and welcoming and far from a bad way to spend his evening.


	4. Chapter 4

Owen is cute, but in the dumb kind of way.

Like in the ‘pick him up batteries for his GameBoy despite the fact that Curt doesn’t really need that anymore because he’s too busy spending time with Owen’ kind of way, because it is really cute that he remembered, but it’s also really dumb.

It’s also dumb because it makes Curt feel all kinds of ways and why that isn’t nessecarily bad, it’s still dumb. it’s hardly something he can fault Owen for.

If Curt’s been completely honest, he spends a lot of time thinking about Owen. It’s nice to have someone to think about, but it’s also scary in a world where everything feels so fleeting. He hopes Owen is a permanent fixture in his life.

He’s spent a lot of time thinking and talking about getting to go outside the walls again, and now that he’s finally here, all he can think about is Owen. Owen who’s inside the walls and not with him because Cynthia apparently has different plans than Curt.

Curt, Tatiana and Susan are making their way back from a nearby farm they’ve just swiped from anything useful, but their trip home gets interrupted when Susan lets out a scream. Curt turns to face him, only to see that a walker has bitten into his leg.

Fuck. They’re gonna be super fucked once Cynthia hears about this.

Before Curt has time to react to what’s happening, Tatiana makes her way towards Susan and sends her foot directly through the walker’s head. Then she pulls her gun and turns it on Susan, who isn’t screaming anymore but who still looks in pain and afraid.

“Don’t.” Now Curt’s reacting. He rushes over to the two others and grabs onto Tatiana’s arm, turning it away from Susan. “We gotta get him back to base.”

Tatiana sighs. “Mega… he’s been bitten. You know Cynthia’s orders.”

“Better make the noise out here, I know. But this is Susan, goddammit! We have to bring him back. We just… we gotta.”

She reluctantly agree and they start making their way back towards the safehouse. Turns out, having a hurt leg really is a problem when trying to make it through the woods quickly and unseen, so they settle for just unseen this time.

They make it back and there’s luckily not any walkers in sight, so they enter the safehouse without a problem. Well, without another problem anyway. Susan’s still bitten and they’re still fucked the moment Cynthia finds out.

Tatiana is the first one to go into her office and Curt is thankful he doesn’t have to. He sits outside the door with Susan, watching and making sure everything is alright. From what they know about the infection, they should still have 21 hours before he turns, but it never hurts to be too careful.

It doesn’t take long before Tatiana returns. She gives Curt a quick look, before helping Susan off of the ground and into the office. When she comes out again, she closes the door after her.

They sit in silence for a while. There’s a lot to be said, but neither of them wants to be the one who says it. In the end, Tatiana gives in. “We should have ended it in the woods.”

“I know.”

“Then why didn’t you let me shoot him?”

“I don’t know, Tatiana! It just… didn’t seem right. Susan’s one of us and dying in the woods without a chance to say goodbye just… felt wrong.”

“You’re a good guy, Mega. I don’t know if that’s enough in this world anymore.”


	5. Chapter 5

It’s been an uneventful day without Curt around.

Owen has been waiting up for the other man to return, and now it’s late and he hears yelling coming from Cynthia’s office. His curiosity gets the best of him and he goes to check it out.

A few moments after his arrival, Curt steps out of the office and it somehow makes a lot of sense to him, with how often Curt and Cynthia seems to bicker. He assumes the trip outside must not have gone well.

“Hey, darling.”

Curt looks up at him and offers a small smile. It doesn’t feel wholehearted. “Hey.”

“What happened in there?” The best way to an answer is through a question. He hopes it’s not too bad, but the yelling considered, it very well might be.

“I’m, uhhh… I’m banned from leaving the safehouse again.”

“Oh? What happened?”

The door to the office opens while he asks and out steps Cynthia. She’s not looking too pleased either. “Mega was a reckless idiot, was what happened.” She then proceeds to pull a gun out from her jacket. She looks at Owen. “You know how to shoot a gun?”

He nods. “Yeah, why?”

“Good.” She hands him the gun. “I need you to take him far away from here and shoot him.” She gestures to Susan who’s tied to a chair in the office.

“What? Why? What did he do?”

“He’s been bitten. Maybe you can get your little friend here to fill you in on the details once you return.” Owen follows Cynthia’s eyes to Curt, who doesn’t look like he’s having the best of times. “Make sure you’re at least two hours away from base when you fire.”

Owen returns to the safehouse four and a half hours later, exhausted and with a little bit of blood on his face. It’s certainly not how he imagined he’d be spending his night, but he supposes it was necessary.

The second he steps through the doors, he’s greeted by Curt who pulls him in for another hug. He returns it immediately this time. Curt looks tired too and despite their dumb tradition of staying up until the other returns, Owen can’t believe he went through with it this time.

“Here, come with me.” Curt’s voice is soft. So is his hand, Owen notes seconds later when Curt takes his hand and starts pulling him towards the wash area. He follows with no complaint.

Curt finds a cloth and carefully helps clean Owen’s face from blood. Neither of them seem to have anything to say for once. All things considered, it’s a nice moment and Owen appreciates not having to go to bed immediately without some human interaction.

Owen follows Curt to his room and they say goodnight, but neither of them immediately leave after that. Then, Owen takes a step closer and Curt mirrors the movement.

They’ve been close before, but never quite like this, because Curt is leaning in and so is Owen. It’s not how he’s imagined their first kiss, but he decides that this is just fine.

Then the door next to Curt’s room opens and Curt pulls away, and Owen swears he can see him blushing.

Maybe another time.


	6. Chapter 6

Not being allowed outside the walls is incredibly boring.

It’s especially bad now that Owen’s allowed out. At least before that, he had more company and something to apply himself to.

Curt’s thankful that Cynthia hasn’t given him a shitty job. His task is to be on the lookout for nearby walkers and other dangers, and to alert her if something happens outside their walls. Sure, it’s boring work, but everything inside the walls is boring work.

He spots Owen and Irene in the distance and begins to climb down from the roof, then goes to open the door for them.

“Anything interesting happen?” He asks before the door is closed.

Irene rolls her eyes. “Nice to see you too, Mega.”

Owen just laughs at them. “I’m afraid not, darling. Just a regular supply run.”

It’s a good thing. Regular is the best possible outcome and Curt logically knows that, but it’s also not the most exciting thing in the world to hear. But it’s whatever. His shift ends in half an hour and then he can go bug Owen.

He helps them with getting the supplies into storage then climbs back onto the roof.

He has a night shift one day and it’s at least as boring as a regular shift, the only difference being it’s darker and even more quiet. The lack of sounds make it easy for Curt to hear as someone starts making their way up to the roof.

When he turns to check who it is, Owen’s already standing there and it brings a smile to his lips. “What are you doing up?”

“Couldn’t fall asleep.” Owen makes his way across the roof as he speaks. “And maybe I wanted to spend some time with you and knew you’d be up here.”

Curt can feel his cheeks heating up and suddenly appreciates the darkness. “Well, wanna take a round with me then?”

He does, so Curt takes a deep breath before putting his hand in Owen’s. Luckily, Owen squeezes his hand and doesn’t let go, and so they start their walk around the safehouse.

They end up walking around on the roof for most of the night, speaking in soft voices and holding hands, their fingers intertwined. Curt concludes that maybe patrolling isn’t so bad after all.

Curt learns that regular is, in fact, better a few days later, when he sees movement in the forest and soon after hears a gunshot go off. Owen and Tatiana is out patrolling and he hopes it isn’t them but after another two gunshots, he sees them sprinting out of the forest.

It takes everything in him to not run out and meet them before they reach the door, but he stays put and keeps it open until they’re safely inside. He makes sure it’s shut before turning to them.

“What ha–”

Tatiana cuts him off. “Go get Cynthia. Go!”

He throws a quick look at Owen, then runs. The two of them return to Tatiana and Owen moments later, but Curt sent off to find Barb before he even knows what’s happening.

When he and Barb reunites with the others, Curt finally sees what the issue is. Owen’s hand is covered in blood and bitemarks. Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck. Curt rushes over to him and Cynthia lets him.

“You’ll be alright.” Curt isn’t sure if he’s telling Owen or himself this. “You have to.”

Owen smiles at him, but it’s a sad smile and it doesn’t feel right. “I’m sorry, love.” He then turns to look at Cynthia. “Just... give me a gun and I’ll do it myself.”


	7. Chapter 7

Curt doesn’t let him die without a fight.

That’s how Owen ends up with only one hand. It hurts like hell and they have no idea if it’ll work, but Curt argues that they won’t figure anything out if they never try.

Owen appreciates that Curt tries to fight for his survival, but he’s not optimistic about it himself, and he spends all day under close watch. He falls asleep being watched and he wakes up being watched, and it’s not ideal but it’s something.

When there’s five hours until he’s supposed to turn, Cynthia hands Curt a gun. They could theoretically wait here a little longer, but she would rather give them extra time, just in case Owen turns.

Curt isn’t happy about her decision, but Owen understands.

They start walking and none of them says anything for a long while. When they’re out of sight of the safehouse, hidden by the trees of the forest, Owen sees Curt reach out for his hand. Owen takes it. If these really are his final moments, he’s happy to be spending them with Curt.

“What were you doing before the world turned into this?” Curt asks him after another five minutes of walking in silence.

They’ve not spoken about their lives before the outbreak a lot, but no time like the present. The present is all they had, after all. “I was an English teacher. What about you?”

“That information’s classified.”

“That information’s classified.” This time it’s Owen repeating it back in a mocking tone. Considering how often Curt has done that to him, he figures he deserves to try it this once. “Come on. You can tell me. It’s not like it matters anymore anyway.”

“It matters.” Curt sighs. “Cynthia will be so pissed that I’ve told you without permission.”

He doesn’t have the heart to tell Curt, that he doesn’t think he was going to make it back tonight, so instead he squeezes the shorter man’s hand and goes with false hope. “Promise me you’ll ask for permission if we get back?”

“Once we get back.”

“Right.”

They walk for a little more than two hours before Curt decides that it has to be good enough for Cynthia. Then he helps Owen sit down. They are somewhere in the forest and there's still another three hours before the transformation should theoretically take place, so they have plenty of time to just exist.

But just like the two hours of walking, the three hours of waiting goes by fast. He doesn’t understand how time with Curt always seems to pass without him even noticing. It’s Curt who notices and who points out that there are five minutes left. Then he helps Owen to his feet.

“You have to live through this, because…” Curt pauses and seems like he’s deep in thought. Owen hears him swear quietly under his breath and he’s about to comment on it but before he has the chance, Curt’s lips are suddenly on his.

Owen’s not going to pretend that he hasn’t been wanting to do this for a long time, so he wraps his arms around Curt and returns the kiss with all he has.

“Because…?” He asks when he finally pulls away.

It makes Curt gives him a little push and Owen pretends to fall, because he knows Curt will attempt to catch him. He’s right about it. “Because I really like you, okay?”

“Okay.”

Curt looks at him for a while. It’s like he’s expecting him to say more, but he doesn’t. “You’re just going to say okay?”

Owen nods. Then he steals another kiss, but it’s much shorter this time. “I really like you too.” He wants to stay in Curt arms for longer, but he suddenly doesn’t feel too well so he steps back, causing the other man to look confused. Owen speaks again before Curt has a chance to. “Could you get out the gun, love? Just to be on the safe side.”

With a little reluctance, Curt pulls out the gun. He takes a deep breath and cocks the gun, then points it to Owen’s chests. Owen offers the man he’s grown to love a small smile, before he takes a tiny step closer to guide Curt’s hand.

When he lets go, the gun is pressed against his forehead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you so much for reading!!!! find me on tumblr @ helenmcwife


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